Publication Date: June 2, 2013
In Rage of the Old Gods by Tyler F.M. Edwards, The gods ruled the humans brutally and the humans staged and won a revolution. Many years later, the old gods see their chance and come return. A young woman named Leha seeks the alien technologies that won the war for the humans before, but even with this great power, can Leha save the human race? Rage of the Old Gods is the first novel in the Books of the World Spectrum series.
The author, Tyler F.M. Edwards, gave me a copy of this novel in exchange for my review.
The author described this novel to me as “epic fantasy blended with elements of steampunk and traditional science fiction.” I have previously only read one novel in the steampunk genre so I am no true judge of the genre. This novel was very different. The novel that I read was Victorian, dirty and rough. Rage of the Old Gods was along the lines of Transformers meet Harry Potter’s Hermoine Granger and the Revenge of the Mechanical Voldemort. The Old Gods are Automatons, brought back to life by the foolish humans. They’re tearing through the country leaving little whole in their wake. They want revenge, and they want it now.
Leha is a strong character and Edwards conveys her character to the reader quite well. That she’s a dealer of antiquities seems kind of sad at the start. She spends her life collecting and in a moment it’s gone. She wants adventure, but this is the classic case of a character for who the grass is always greener, but that thing that makes it greener is really harsh poison. Leha laments distance from her brother and friends, but that’s her lot as a hero. Saving the world is a lonely business though you wouldn’t know it from the epic action.
Rage of the Old Gods is a really good and fresh (for this reader) idea. The writing style could have been a bit less indulgent, so the story very frequently drags. When action is written, it’s clear that this is what the author enjoys writing–that fast-paced, action-packed, all-or-nothing conflict. What happens in-between comes off as less interesting. The timeliness is also a bit confusing. Leha has an epic journey with a vast cast of characters, and perhaps as a first novel, it was all a bit much for this new writer.
Under normal circumstances, I might rate this novel two stars but I gave it four for originality and because I think Edwards is just warming up. As the book progress, the author gets better at condensing the filler and exploiting the tension and action. This is a very promising start to what I’m sure will be a compelling series.
If you like robots in a science fiction world, Rage of the Old Gods by Tyler F.M. Edwards is the novel for you.
Tyler F.M. Edwards was raised in the lush countryside near Ottawa, Canada. A second novel in the series, Children of the Gods, was also released on June 2, 2013.
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